Main menu

Post navigation

FEMININE MYSTIQUE

In class we spent a lot of time talking about the Feminine Mystique and the second wave of feminism. We talked about women beginning to break out of the boxes they have been forced into and stand up to the patriarchy that continues to grow stronger and stronger in today’s society. Although Friedan’s novel does not pertain directly to my thread of human trafficking in America, I think a lot of the points she makes and elaborates on throughout her novel can apply to the future of sex trafficking and what needs to be done in order to put an end to trafficking. Without the help of those with power and freedom, the current victims have close to no chance of escaping the wrath and webs of lies of their pimps and traffickers. Even those that have escaped sex trafficking are not free or safe from the patriarchy and pressures from both their own heads and society pulling them back to trafficking and the realm of sex work. The laws in the U.S. are working against the women that are forced into trafficking, but not the men who traffic or pay for them. The patriarchy allows men to get away with being horn-dogs and sex addicts, while women (regardless of if they are trafficked or if they are choosing to partake in sex work willingly) are slut shamed and scrutinized for being “dirty whores” and “skanks”. These laws and social stigmas will remain intact until we as a WHOLE society come to realize that this patriarchal divide is not only unfair but should not be tolerated by either gender. The ways in which women have stood up in the past and today have proven that progress can be made and changes can occur in what seemed to be a permanently male-dominated society.